Documented ownership verification
Verification is a manual evidence review. It is separate from free factual corrections, free profile claims, search relevance, and any commercial relationship.
What the review evaluates
- The applicant's authority to speak for the practice.
- The legal entity and patient-facing location represented by the record.
- Current direct and indirect ownership, including minority investors.
- DSO, management-service, private-equity, or similar contractual relationships.
- Whether treating dentist owners retain the ownership and control described publicly.
- Conflicts between submitted materials and public records.
Evidence that may be requested
- Government-issued identity and proof of authority to represent the practice.
- Current formation, ownership, or beneficial-owner documentation.
- A signed ownership attestation and disclosure of management or investor relationships.
- Public business filings or other authoritative sources that corroborate the submission.
Do not send patient records, treatment information, payment-card data, credentials, or other sensitive clinical information.
Outcome and limitations
A verified result means the reviewed evidence supported the displayed dentist-owned conclusion at the stated review date. It does not certify clinical quality, licensure, pricing, insurance participation, or future ownership.
Recusal for operator-affiliated practices
DoctorOwned is operated by the team behind Smile Science Dental Spa. The operator cannot issue a verified badge to an operator-owned or operator-controlled practice. Those cases require an independent reviewer, an identity match to the public organization record, at least one publishable source, and an active review record. Without all four, the public status remains unclear.
Review cadence and revocation
The public record shows when evidence was last reviewed so readers can judge staleness. DoctorOwned may remove or mark a badge unclear when ownership changes, a material conflict appears, or current evidence no longer supports the published criteria. A fixed re-review schedule will not be claimed until that operational process is in place.
Separate free workflows
Reporting an error and claiming contact information do not require verification or payment. A correction can change a public fact when evidence supports it, regardless of whether the practice participates in this program.